Color me spoiled

I'm not much of a "label" girl. I prefer to shop the clearance rack at Target, so I didn't expect to be quite so excited when I saw this box and the necklace that came inside it:



Happy Birthday to me!

What I've found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany's. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind men in their nice suits...
~Breakfast at Tiffany's

Dirty 30? Mmmm..not so much.

Turning 30 last month wasn't nearly as shocking as it could've been. I definitely feel old, but I'm also excited about this new decade of life. I can only hope I'll have it figured out a bit more than I did in my 20s.



I'm not sure why JW went with the whole "I'm almost 7 so I need to be cool" pose while I went with the "Let's pretend I'm still in high school" pose, but he sure is handsome, and that cake...oh that strawberry cake!

Happy Anna Shaw Howard Day to you!

Excuse me while I recap February for you during March...

We'll start with Anna Shaw Howard Day, aka, Valentine's Day. Hopefully any fans of "30 Rock" out there will know the importance of Anna Shaw Howard for Liz.

A is a big fan of cookies, but when he's in workout mode all those cookies I bake for him are the first to go. Since it had been three months since his last taste of an "oatmeal raisie" (his favorite that I managed to perfect after so many batches), I decided to make a small batch of dough that would make just enough for him to enjoy, but not throw off his ability to continue to drop 30 pounds in a mere 3 months (men!!!). After they finished baking, it dawned on me that I had heart shaped cookie cutters I bought on clearance last V-Day. I dug through all the kitchen utensils I rarely use, and I found them still in the unopened box a year later. Oatmeal Raisin cookies aren't really meant to be shaped by cookie cutters so I struggled a bit, but here they are complete with a (precious) little "A & S" in festive sparkly red gel I had in the cabinet - Anna Shaw Howard Day only comes around once a year after all so why not go all out?

My own Wonderland

I'm watching it snow once again this year, but unlike a month ago there's ice under that snow. While these have already been posted on FB, I'm not really up for possibly injuring myself for some new photos. Without further ado, here are a handful of reasons why I L-O-V-E my neighborhood.

J Cat, how could you??

J Cat is an indoor cat. She doesn't have front claws. I got her that way, but truly appreciate that about her. Out of fear, I never let her outside without me being there to keep an eye on her or any stray cats that wander through the neighborhood. One day, while discussing this for some unknown reason, a friend informed that cats fight with their back claws, so that changed everything in my mind. No longer would I have to chaperon her outings on the front porch or back yard. She could roam free...as long as it wasn't beyond those two areas. I thought we were good to go until one sunny, warm afternoon I went out to the back yard to check on her, and there she was laying down next to a neighborhood cat. They looked pretty cozy and all, but I'm just not ready for J Cat to date. She's only 6...or 7? I really don't know how old she was when I got her. Either way, I'm not ready for this. Let alone the fact that she's black and the neighborhood cat is solid white. I can't imagine the uproar this could create. Good thing she's neutered!

An "If" for girls

A friend grew up with this poem on her wall. It's something I would like to strive towards, and hopefully teach any future daughters of mine how to do.


An “If” for Girls

by Elizabeth Lincoln Otis

(With apologies to Mr. Rudyard Kipling)
If you can dress to make yourself attractive,
Yet not make puffs and curls your chief delight;
If you can swim and row, be strong and active,
But of the gentler graces lose not sight;
If you can dance without a craze for dancing,
Play without giving play too strong a hold,
Enjoy the love of friends without romancing,
Care for the weak, the friendless and the old;

If you can master French and Greek and Latin,
And not acquire, as well, a priggish mien,
If you can feel the touch of silk and satin
Without despising calico and jean;
If you can ply a saw and use a hammer,
Can do a man’s work when the need occurs,
Can sing when asked, without excuse or stammer,
Can rise above unfriendly snubs and slurs;
If you can make good bread as well as fudges,
Can sew with skill and have an eye for dust,
If you can be a friend and hold no grudges,
A girl whom all will love because they must;

If sometime you should meet and love another
And make a home with faith and peace enshrined,
And you its soul—a loyal wife and mother—
You’ll work out pretty nearly to my mind
The plan that’s been developed through the ages,
And win the best that life can have in store,
You’ll be, my girl, the model for the sages—
A woman whom the world will bow before.

Can't stop!

Through the course of trying to lose my extra weight and keep it off for good, I learned something pretty important. Losing weight for me was always a race with a finish line. I knew how much I wanted to lose, and I had a time frame to do it in. Since I had an end in sight, it was alot easier to deny myself everything I thought had put me at the weight I was, and then I just needed to bust it in the gym to burn it off faster. Every time I made it to the finish line. I ran through the ribbon and enjoyed all that I accomplished, but then I went to the sidelines until the weight caught up with me again and left me with no choice but to enter a new race.

The past 10 months has been much different, and I've been much happier. I stopped signing myself up for weight loss races, and I decided to make this a never ending marathon. Of course, I took a pit stop here and there. Most of December ended up that way. I kept a good grasp on what I put in my mouth, but didn't feel the urge to exercise, and by the end of December I didn't like the way my body felt or how my clothes were fitting. What had finally started to firm up wasn't feeling too firm, and what was starting to lean out, wasn't as lean.

As much as I want to run the race for a month or two or even three, I can't run short distances. Short distances keep me on the yo-yo diet cycle, and I'm tired of that. I have to run a marathon. I have to keep pressing on and changing things up year round. It stinks! It really does. I wish I was the kind of girl that could do the bare minimum, but I wasn't good to my body for most of my life, and now I have to make up for that. After only a week past that month long pit stop, I already feel the not-so-firm, firming back up, and I can see the less-than-lean, leaning back out. I love it! I love the way I look already. I love the way I feel, and I'm so glad I finally learned my lesson. Let's just hope I can keep my pit stops to a week from now on.